"A Rose is a Rose is a Rose"

     Even though we had a long wet spring and a very mild summer so far, our rose bushes are growing crazy!!!  You could call it "Roses Gone Wild."  I spend a lot of time in my rose gardens taking care of them, so it looks like it's paying off.  We have quite a variety as well as numerous colors of roses, so we really enjoy them when they are in full bloom.

      I thought that I would also add a couple of pictures of our beautiful lilies that are just popping up in our lily garden.  They are a gorgeous shade of pink and white.  Some of these were transplanted from the ones we brought home from Wyoming a few summers ago.  It's always nice to have a "piece of the West" in our garden!!!

 

  

     Another piece of the West we have is this wrought iron Cowboy Joe logo given to us by Eric, Jessica, and Rachel (our nephew and nieces). He proudly is displayed above our bay window, and there is no way to miss our house with him in full view. It is one of my most treasured gifts and reminds me of home every single day. Go Pokes! (Wyoming's slogan for you Minnesotans reading my blog.) :0) 

     Today I also enjoyed a belated birthday lunch with my friend, Anita.  She spent a lot of time with her family in Duluth, Eau Claire, and Chicago right after school got out for the summer, so we were able to connect for lunch today at Buffalo Wild Wings.  It was delicious!!  We had a nice time and were able to have a leisurely lunch and catch up on our lives.  Thanks, Anita!! :0)

 

 

Kite Flying & Gymnastics with Megann and Mathieu as Gepetto

Who is driving this thing, anyway??!!

      It's been a long time since I sat in one of these, so I decided to join Mathieu and Megann at Pine Meadow's playground for some play time and kite flying.

GREAT Theater presents....Pinocchio

     Mathieu had the part of playing Gepetto who, of course, created a wooden marionette called Pinocchio.  Here he is in the red shirt, black hat, and black pants (sitting next to his pal, Pinocchio).

     Here is the entire cast of Pinocchio put on by GREAT Theatre Summer Camp.  It was fun to be part of his week at theater summer camp last week.  I was his "chauffeur" throughout the week and then was invited to the live performance.  It was great to see so many kids in one performance and so many excited parents.  The GREAT Theater instructors were very energetic and passionate about their jobs.

Megann doing some fabulous coloring while she waits for her gymnastics class to begin

Megann and me

     Here are a couple of pictures of Megann getting ready for the balance beam and high bars.  She is a great gymnast for her age!!

     After two hours of gymnastics, she was one hungry girl!!  She wanted to go to McDonald's, so who was I to complain?  It was a beautiful afternoon, so she enjoyed her lunch outside while I enjoyed a nice cold sweet tea (my favorite).  Now she goes back to "school" as she calls it for rest time, and then she has swimming lessons followed by T-ball this evening.  WOW!!  She is one busy girl. :)
     It makes me think about the days when Michael and Danielle were young; I really miss those days as the time really does just fly by!!!  Though, it is fun to have kids like Mathieu, Megann, and Luke in the neighborhood.

"Pie and Coffee?"

     This morning I met two of my good friends for our birthday breakfast.  Claudia's birthday and my birthday are both in June, and Becky's birthday is July 4, so every summer we meet in between our birthdays to celebrate.  It was a fun time with the three of us visiting while Noah provided the entertainment.  He is Becky's three-year-old, and he is a hoot.  When I took Becky home after Claud's mom's wake last Monday, he hollered from the kitchen window, "Hey, Osty, ya wanna come in for pie and coffee?" 

     I looked at Becky and started laughing hysterically while Becky said to Noah, "Did daddy make a pie while I was gone for her to come in and have some?"

     "Nope," replied Noah. 

     "Well, Osty doesn't drink coffee, and since we don't have any pie to offer, she'll have to take a rain check," said Becky.  She then proceeded to tell me that they only have pie for Thanksgiving, so she had no idea where he came up with that one.

     Just like today at breakfast when the waitress brought us a pecan caramel roll to share amongst the four of us, and Noah took one look at the roll and said, "Wow!  That's a fatty!!"  It definitely was a huge roll, but his expressions and mannerisms were just too funny!!!  Caleb, her one-year-old, who is the spitting image of Noah, stayed home with daddy today, but Noah was a great boy the whole time!!  Thanks for the nice visit, ladies!! :)

Claud and me

Becky, me, and Claudia

     Noah decided to hang with me for awhile and entertain me with his assortment of trucks.  He is so talkative and funny at the same time.  He was a very good listener while we had our breakfast and visited with each other.

Finally...a Day Without Rain This Week!!

Sara, Kelly, Tara, and I enjoyed a belated birthday lunch at Little Fiesta today. 

     Luke giving me the thumbs up after he stopped by to show me he can ride his new bike with training wheels.  He also had to tell me about his trip to Disney World.  Heidi, Paul, and the boys just returned from a week's vacation there.  It was their first big family vacation since Paul returned from Iraq.

     Tonight we gathered together at the Webster's house for a few hours.  They built a new three season porch, so they wanted to "break it in."  It was a perfect night to do so; it finally quit raining!!  Rachel and her youngest son, Keaton, are enjoying some 1:1 in this picture.

     Now it is Logan's turn with mom :0)

Rachel, Paul, Heidi, me, Jodi, Glenn, and Darrell

     Darrell playing cars and helping Luke out with his Nerf gun.  Luke came over tonight, rang the door bell, and asked Darrell if he wanted to play cars!! How cute is that?!  They played cars and toy Nerf guns.  Ever since we babysat him for a weekend while his mom and dad went to NDSU for a hockey game and a getaway, he thinks Darrell is so cool because he makes the best noises and gets down on the floor to play cars with him. :0)

Luke and Lori

     Time for bed...awww!  He made it until 11:00 and then crashed.  Thanks for hosting the neighbors tonight, Paul and Heidi.

Summer Rituals

     Today was a fun day!! :0)  My friend, Alison, and I have made it a summer ritual to attend the Lemonade Arts & Craft Fair at SCSU for the past several years.  We don't usually buy a whole lot, but we always share great conversations, lots of laughter, and, of course, lemonade.  However, this year we didn't have the weather on our side to enjoy our lemonade on a sunny, hot day.  It was 58 degrees when we went, and Alison was cold enough to wear a jacket. We found some treasures to buy, and then we headed over to Barb's house for rest of the afternoon. 

Alison and me by one of the hosta gardens at the Lemonade Fair

Just a close up picture of the two of us

         

     The three of us started this fun day last year, so this was our second annual "B" day.  We gather together at Barb's house to enjoy a nice lunch, and everything we bring or make starts with the letter b: Alison's infamous bacon bread, brown pop, Barb's delicious veggie pizza, berries for our "sugar cookie pizzas," and Barb's brownies. 

     We also talked a lot about books, shared book titles, and exchanged good summer reads.  Barb also did some blogging.  I guess we make good English teacher geeks. :0)    While we visited by her big bay window and looked out at the mighty Mississippi River, Barb even had her fireplace on.  Such a strange concept for a June day in Minnesota!  A very relaxing day was had by all!!

  

"A Night of Support"

     Tonight I headed to Big Lake for the school board meeting to support our current bosses, Glenn and Deb.  There has been a major restructuring in our district recently.  Unfortunately, Heidi couldn't join us since things didn't go as planned with her chemo treatment today, so Barb and I headed over to her house with dinner and dessert.  It was fun to see her and the kids and meet her sister as well.  Rachel even brought Smudge out for a visit!! :)

          

Barb, Heidi, me, and Rachel (Heidi's youngest)   The same order plus Peter (who just got his driver's license and is very excited about it)!!!

 Here I am with two of Heidi's kids who also just happen to be former students.

 This is a group of colleagues prior to entering the school board meeting tonight to support our principal and vice-principal.

After the school board meeting with our bosses, Glenn & Deb

      After the board meeting, we headed for some conversation, much laughter, and apps/drinks at a local establishment.  Tonight we just wanted to show them our support due to the district's new realignment. 

                     Brenda and her hubby, Mike    Holty with his wife, Brenda, and me

   Barb and Deb...friends for three decades!!!     Becca, Bridget, and me

Claud and me- It was so great to see her; her mom's funeral was yesterday. ):

Jill, Simona, Claudia, and Barb are in the second picture.

           Jody and Emily enjoying a beverage :)  The bosses together one last time

     

                                April and me                      Glenn and his #1 secretary, B
                                                                             (This was a tearjerker!!)

Most of the group squeezed together for this pic

Glenn with two of his secretaries, B and Emily